Nice, France, October 2021 – The French Forum for Urban Security (FFSU) and the Italian Forum for Urban Security (FISU) capitalised on Efus’ Security, Democracy and Cities conference (Nice, 20-22 October) to organise on site their respective award ceremonies for the French and Italian 2021 Crime Prevention Award in front of an international audience.
France: inspiring mobility and security schemes
The theme of the 2021 PrixPrev was ‘mobility and security’.
The first prize was awarded to the Rhône-Lyon transport authority (Syndicat mixte des transports pour le Rhône et l’agglomération lyonnaise, SYTRAL) for its territorial strategy for security and crime prevention in the Lyon transport network, which it implements in partnership with the operator Keolis Lyon. The jury honoured “a global security and crime prevention approach that is fully transferable to other territories. On the basis of a national strategy, the Lyon network designed a comprehensive strategy based on a large partnership, which is a first in France.” The jury commends the fact that “the strategy, which includes 32 actions, strikes a balance between sanction and prevention as well as the decision to evaluate existing schemes.”
The second prize went to the Pas-de-Calais region’s Information Centre on the Rights of Women and Families (Centre d’Informations sur les droits des femmes et des familles, CIDFF) for its scheme offering free taxi rides to women who are victim of domestic violence through a partnership with the Prefecture and the National Union of Taxis. The jury commended “an action targeted at a particularly vulnerable public” and highlighted “the originality and practicality of this scheme,” which is implemented through “a dense partnership with security institutions and private operators (taxi companies).”
Lastly, the third prize was awarded to the Fondation des Femmes for its Stand Up programme, which raises awareness among the general public on how to safely intervene when they are victim or witness of sexual harassment in a public space. The jury stressed “the importance of acting against harassment in the streets as it can push victims to avoid certain areas, thus reducing their mobility. The jury commends this wide-ranging and simple scheme that concerns everybody, both victims and witnesses, and can easily be duplicated.”
Italy: citizen participation, prevention of reoffending, and community policing
The first prize went to the City of Florence’s Presidi Positivi project aimed at fostering citizen participation, in particular the young, through street intervention and urban renewal. Benedetta Albanese, Councillor for urban security at the municipality, said that the project will “revamp and restore some public spaces on the outskirts of the city that are isolated and derelict, thus perceived as unsafe, in order to give them back to citizens, in particular the young.” The scheme concerns five neighbourhoods where social activities are being organised for young residents.
The second prize was awarded to the New Prevention – Casa di Lavoro project of the City of Castelfranco Emilia. This project seeks to prevent reoffending by offering training and professional upskilling to current and former prisoners of the Casa di Lavoro prison. “This project seeks to offer them a second chance and support for their new life path. Many offenders are people who didn’t have opportunities in their life,” said the Mayor of Castelfranco Emilia, Giovanni Gargano.
The third prize distinguished the Smart Insubria project led by the provinces of Como and Lecco to reorganise the local police force between 27 communes with the objective of improving efficiency and better serve local communities. The Councillor for urban security of the Lombardy Region, Riccardo De Corato, explained that the Region “encouraged these municipality to pool their local police force in order to optimise resources and improve professional qualifications.”
For more information or if you want to apply for the 2022 French Crime Prevention Award (on the prevention of reoffending) or the Italian Crime Prevention Award, see the FFSU and FISU websites.
